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Park Tudor High School junior Dan Rayl, Notre Dame just felt like the right place to be for many reasons.

Rayl made an oral commitment to play tennis at Notre Dame this week.

"The big thing was the family atmosphere I felt when I was on campus," Rayl said. "It's a smaller campus than the other schools I was looking at. Plus I absolutely love the coaches. I like the young guys on the team a lot, too."

Being close to home helped, too.

"I'll be able to see my family a lot and they'll come up to all the matches probably," Rayl said. "My dad makes frequent trips up here for his work.

Rayl, who won the state high school singles title last fall, said he also heavily considered Michigan, Northwestern and Ohio State. He made unofficial visits to those three schools. He also considered Illinois and Alabama.

Rayl was the state singles runner-up as a sophomore and won the state doubles title with Sam Geier as a freshman.

Rayl watched as No. 9 Notre Dame lost a 4-3 decision to No. 14 Duke at South Bend on Friday. The Irish are 13-6.

"They have some impressive wins," Rayl said. "They've been competing well against some of the top teams in the country."

Ryan Sachire became Irish head coach last July after being an assistant for two seasons.

Rayl said he will play in a national open tournament in May before starting his summer tennis schedule.